The game of golf has enjoyed ever increasing popularity over the years, for various reasons. As with almost all games of skill, players of the game are generally anxious to improve their skills, whether in comparison with other players or relative to a previous personal best. However, golf can be particularly difficult game to learn to play well, as evidenced by the relatively high earning levels achieved by top professionals on the tournament circuit. Considering that the average amateur cannot devote the vast number of hours required to learn to play the game at its top level, any advantage which makes it easier for the amateur to lower his/her score is advantageous.
This is particularly true with the portion of the game relating to putting, for shorter distances on the green approaching the hole. There is an old adage among professional golfers: "Drive for show and putt for dough," which can be seen to emphasize the value of the shorter strokes of the game used in putting. As each stroke is counted the same, it will be seen that accuracy in the putting game is of relative importance.
A common error in putting, particularly with relatively unskilled players, is to slightly "open" or "close" the club head relative to the desired path of the ball, i.e., to inadvertently angle the club face slightly toward or away from the body. With a flat face on the club head, such an angular displacement will be seen to deflect the ball away from the desired path by twice the angular displacement of the club head face, much as if the ball were reflected or bounced from the angularly displaced surface of the club face. Such small angles of displacement are often difficult for the novice player to see, but errors in putting caused by such displacement are one of the prime causes of missed putts and resulting high scores among golfers. Indeed, additional problems arise with conventional putters and players using them, relating to difficulty in delivering a clean stroke due to contact with the surface of the putting green, inadvertent placement of backspin on the ball, etc.
The need arises for a golf putter having an arcuately convex face on the club head, to provide for some degree of automatic compensation for errors in club head alignment with the ball when putting. The putter preferably should provide a compound convex curvature to the club face, in order to minimize backspin and promote overspin or topspin to the ball when putting. In addition, provision for radial and angular clearance for the bottom of the club head is desirable to promote cleaner strokes. Alignment of the club shaft with the center of gravity of the club head, and ball when the club head properly strikes the ball, is also desirable in order to minimize arcuate displacement of the club head at impact with the ball.